When you’ve been betrayed
When you’ve been betrayed.
Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.
The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.” Luke 23:34-35
Go back and look at the life of Judas. He couldn’t live with himself knowing what he did to Jesus. He sold out not only his friend, but the Savior of the world. The most pure man. He was greedy and did it for gain. So, if those who have betrayed you, are still mean to you, know they are probably doing so because of their own guilt that they feel and bear. Its an attack on your soul from the enemy. It’s not a reflection of you, though it sure feels like it. And until they seek forgiveness and for the weight to be lifted, there can be no reconciling, because the guilt would eat them alive. That’s their burden to bear until they seek forgiveness. Christ took the weight but we must lay it at His feet. It feels like it’s all on you because that’s the way it was portrayed. BUT that’s simply NOT true.. God only knows what they did to you and what that did to you. We can and should take responsibility for our part. That’s a given. Confess and repent. The enemy however will taunt you with the thoughts and guilt that it’s all you and that you can’t change it, in hopes that you’ll stay under the weight that you can’t and were not supposed to carry. He’s a liar. Give it to Jesus. Stop carrying that weight, that guilt and stop dwelling on those never ending thoughts. Focus on Him. He wants to heal you. Be the betrayer or the betrayed. Truth is, hurting people hurt other people as my momma would always say. There’s a good chance the betrayer was hurt and needs healed too. Forgiveness is life giving. Whether it be to receive it or extend it. One must not forget to forgive oneself or we stand in God’s way and the work that He wants to do!
Forgiveness isn’t deserved and it isn’t earned, so if that’s what we’re waiting on, we’ll wait on……
It’s hard! I know! Because I let it begin to define me. Bitterness crept in. Darkness came in, but thank God the love of Christ and the light of God is drawing it out! Exposing the lies and shining truth in. Forgiveness is a choice; the work is a process. Be patient with yourself but forgive quickly before bitterness takes root.
Now, look at the life of Jesus. He had 12 followers and He knew that one of them would betray Him. He loved them anyway. There’s always a lesson to learn. He had to have known even before He picked them that this would happen this way. He picked them anyway. They were all messed up in some way. That didn’t intimidate Jesus. He came to save, not condemn. He used and still uses imperfect people to perfect His will and to show His love through. The betrayal had to be in order for Jesus to fulfill His purpose to save you and me. To save us from the weight that we’re under.
Just think, we helped persecute Him. We have all at some point represented and been the Roman (soldiers) men, Peter or Judas. We’ve all persecuted wrongly, denied or lied. At some point we have all drifted and we were all once lost before we were saved; representing someone or something. Let’s represent Jesus now.
Not only was Jesus God in the flesh and knew all things, but He came as a man to lead me and You. He didn’t have to. He wasn’t just any man, but the Son of God. Yet, He was tempted at all points just as we are and sinned not. What an example to follow. You may say: “well I’m not Jesus!” But did He not make it possible? Does His very same Spirit not reside in you if you received Him? He didn’t make or leave us powerless! He didn’t die so we’d stay defeated but to live victorious. There is power in forgiveness. He went to the cross willingly when Judas betrayed Him; He didn’t let it get the best of Him, He endured. He forgave. He didn’t repay, He obeyed His Fathers will. It was hard no doubt, He sweated blood. He cried tears. This was part of the cross journey.
“Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.” Luke 22:42
We know that Jesus forgave because He went to the cross and proved it by the blood that He shed. Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss as a sign of “here He is.” He sold Him out in other words. Others too have betrayed us who were “supposed to be” the closest to us. Otherwise, how would it be betrayal? It crushes us, but if we’re not careful, we’ll crush under its weight.
It stinks. It hurts. Its awful, bad, horrible! But God knows. He made a way for Jesus and He will make a way for you and me. He hasn’t forsaken us as it seems, He is working behind the scenes. He forgives the betrayer if they will just ask, just as He has forgiven you in the past. He is the SAME God yesterday, today and forevermore. Always will be! He knows what’s been done to you. Don’t let it define you or it will. You’re more than what’s been done to you and so am I.
He’s asking you if will you trust Him with this pain? He can bring beauty from ashes again; and He can call dead things back to life. If it had to be this way for Jesus to die and rise again, don’t let this get the best of or be the death of you. I do not discount what you’re going through but I am telling you that He loves you and wants best for you. Don’t let it get who you use to be or who God made you to be. We must bring it to the feet of Jesus. Get our power back. You will rise again: Stronger, wiser and better than before. God is always improving and perfecting, making things better than He found them. He is all for growth. Satan is for the opposite. Yes, he’s the one who wants to keep you bound and tied to the offense, but know that Christ died to set you free and free indeed!
You might not know all the why’s. You might not ever….You might not know when you will feel like you again. It may be dark now, but I promise a rainbow will come. Storms never last and God’s promises remain. Look up child. It’s coming. Hold on.
“Let this Messiah, this king of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him. At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”). When some of those standing near heard this, they said, “Listen, he’s calling Elijah.”Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down,” he said. With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last. The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died, he said, “SURELY THIS MAN WAS THE SON OF GOD.” Mark 15:32-39
They may crucify and ridicule you with a heap of insults. Look down on you. Mock you. Taunt you. It may seem like the end of you. But there’s an end to everything. They will see that surely God was on your side. What looks and feels like the end, isn’t the death of you. The 3rd days coming (God knows when that’ll be) and that heavy stone that looks like it’s closing in on you forever, and with no way of escape, will be removed. It was miraculous then and will be miraculous for you. For only He can do some things. We must trust Him. He’s still Rolling Stones and He is still proof that you can’t keep a good man down. Peace and hope to you! All our hope is in Jesus. We will drift without the anchor and hope of our soul. It’s too big for you and me. He said it was finished and it is done! Bank on it. He gets the final say, every time.
They were helped in fighting them, and God delivered the Hagrites and all their allies into their hands, because they cried out to him during the battle. He answered their prayers, because they trusted in him. 1 Chronicles 5:20
They seized the livestock of the Hagrites—fifty thousand camels, two hundred fifty thousand sheep and two thousand donkeys. They also took one hundred thousand people captive, and many others fell slain, BECAUSE THE BATTLE WAS GOD’S. And they occupied the land until the exile. 5:21-22
Oh God, the battle belongs to You.
“Battle Belongs” lyrics
When all I see is the battle
You see my victory
When all I see is the mountain
You see a mountain moved
And as I walk through the shadow
Your love surrounds me
There's nothing to fear now
For I am safe with You
So when I fight I'll fight on my knees
With my hands lifted high
Oh God the battle belongs to You
And every fear I lay at Your feet
I'll sing through the night
Oh God the battle belongs to You
